Section I: Reading Comprehension

To read for main ideas, details, and inference

Partial

Question 1

16 / 20 pts

Read the following text and use the information to answer the questions
below.
 Savant Syndrome: Early Studies

The word “savant” is derived from the French word “savoir” which means “to know” and it is not without
reason that these rare and extraordinary talented people sometimes go under the name “an island of
genius”. Among the first to describe the savant syndrome was Benjamin Rush who in 1789 presented the
case of Thomas Fuller, nicknamed as “a lightning calculator”. Rush describes how Thomas Fuller performed
extraordinary calculations. When Fuller was asked how many seconds a man had lived if he was 70 years, 17
days and 12 hours old, it took him 90 seconds to give the correct answer of 2,210,500,800 seconds.
Moreover, Fuller had even corrected for the 17 leap years.

The first scientific description of a savant case was published in the German psychology journal Gnothi
Sauton in 1783. In the journal, the case of Jedediah Buxton, who was a lightning calculator with an
extraordinary memory, was presented. Still, it took several more decades before the phenomenon of savant
syndrome was more clearly described and investigated.

In 1887, Dr. J. Langdon Down investigated the syndrome which at that time referred to explaining “idiot
savants”. Idiot savant was an accepted medical description of someone suffering from savant characteristics.
The term was used to describe a person who had an IQ below 25 but still seemed to be a “knowledgeable
person”. Later, Dr. Down described several savant cases, and he found that the syndrome was characterized
by “verbal adhesion”, by which he meant that some savants seemed to have memory without reckoning. Dr.
Down also keenly pointed out the fact that the savant’s talent is linked to ‘extraordinary memory’; as an
example of this, one of his patients had memorized very long pieces from the book Rise and Fall of the
Roman Empire.

Dr. Down also found the link between the savant syndrome and autistic characteristics, although he did not
recognize this connection as such. After all, autism was not a known diagnosis at that time. The people Dr.
Down met who were described as savant idiots, were at that time categorized under the name
‘Developmental disorder’. The characteristics among most of these people were typical autistic features
according to today’s norms, so even if Dr. Down did not know it back then, he had found a relation between
savant syndrome and autistic condition. Dr. Down himself described these patients: “Their language is one of
gesture only; living in a world of their own, they are regardless of the ordinary circumstances around them
and yield only to the counter-fascination of music.”

Today, there is substantial knowledge about savant syndrome, and over the last century about a hundred
cases have been described in the scientific literature.

Questions:
1. What is another good title for this article? [ Select ] ["“How to
Become a Savant”", "“Savant Syndrome: Symptoms”", "“How Smart are Autistic Savants”", "“First
researches on Savants”"]

2. Who was one of the first scientists to describe the savant syndrome? [ Select ]
["Thomas Fuller", "Gnothi Sauton", "Benjamin Rush", "Dr. J. Langdon Down"]

3. What is the best heading for paragraphs 3 and 4? [ Select ]

["People with IQ below 25", "Knowledgeable People", "The Origin of the Term “Idiot Savants”", "Dr. J.
Langdon Down’s Studies"]

4. The first published scientific description of a savant case ... [ Select ]

["was studied by Benjamin Rush.", "fully investigated the savant syndrome.", "was presented back in
1783.", "clearly described the savant syndrome."]

5. What is the meaning of the word “substantial” in Paragraph 5? [ Select ]

["unimportant", "descriptive", "considerable", "successful"]

Answer 1:

“First researches on Savants”

Answer 2:

Gnothi Sauton

Answer 3:

Dr. J. Langdon Down’s Studies

Answer 4:

was presented back in 1783.

Answer 5:

considerable

Section II: Grammar

To identify different functions

Partial

Question 2

4 / 16 pts

Identify if the following grammar structures express Speculation, Likelihood,

Advice, or Conclusion.

1. You can’t have seen Conclusion

Lucia. She is on
vacation in Cancun.
2. The teacher said he [ Select ]
uploaded all the ["Advice", "Speculation",
grades yesterday.
"Conclusion", "Likelihood"]
You should be
able to see them in the
system.
3. I can’t find my key in Likelihood
my bag. I might have
left it at home.
4. Juan just ended his [ Select ]
relationship with Nina. ["Conclusion", "Advice",
He must be
"Speculation", "Likelihood"]
heartbroken.

Answer 1:

Conclusion

Answer 2:

Advice

Answer 3:

Likelihood

Answer 4:

Speculation

Section III: Organizing Information

To identify parts of a paragraph

Question 3

14 / 14 pts

Look at the sample paragraph and identify its parts.

An autistic savant [ Select ]

["Second supporting idea",
"Controlling idea", "Concluding
sentence", "First supporting
idea", "Example", "Idea that
does not belong in the text",
"Topic"]
...different areas [ Select ]
["First supporting idea",
"Controlling idea", "Example",
"Idea that does not belong in
the text", "Concluding
sentence", "Topic", "Second
supporting idea"]
Some autistic savants [ Select ]
have special skills in ["Topic", "First supporting
Math.
idea", "Second supporting
idea", "Controlling idea",
"Concluding sentence", "Idea
that does not belong in the
text", "Example"]
Other savants have [ Select ]
excellent memory. ["First supporting idea",
"Example", "Topic", "Second
supporting idea", "Idea that
does not belong in the text",
"Controlling idea", "Concluding
sentence"]
They can easily Example
remember a whole
phone book or recite
passages of different
books.
The only problem is [ Select ]
that autistic savants ["Idea that does not belong in
sometimes may have
the text", "Concluding
problems with social
skills. sentence", "Example",
"Controlling idea", "First
supporting idea", "Second
supporting idea", "Topic"]
As you can see [ Select ]
autistic savants have ["Controlling idea", "Topic",
amazing skills.
"Example", "Idea that does not
belong in the text",
"Concluding sentence",
"Second supporting idea",
"First supporting idea"]
Answer 1:

Topic

Answer 2:

Controlling idea

Answer 3:

First supporting idea

Answer 4:

Second supporting idea

Answer 5:

Example

Answer 6:

Idea that does not belong in the text

Answer 7:

Concluding sentence
Section IV: Written Expression

To write an organized summary paragraph

Question 4

50 / 50 pts

Now, write a summary paragraph about the article in Section I.

Your Answer:

Savant syndrome is an extremely rare and old condition, but it is one of the most
fascinating developments in the brain discovered by scientists. One of the first
known cases of savant syndrome was Thomas Fuller, nicknamed “a lightning
calculator” who performed extraordinary calculations. When Fuller was asked how
many seconds a man had lived if he was 70 years, 17 days, and 12 hours old, it took
him 90 seconds to give the correct answer of 2,210,500,800 seconds. Moreover,
Fuller had even corrected for the 17 leap years. Another case, was about Jedediah
Buxton who was a lightning calculator with an extraordinary memory, was presented.
One of the scientists who researched the most about this syndrome was Dr. J.
Langdon Down. He investigated the syndrome and described several savant cases,
he found that the syndrome was characterized by “verbal adhesion”, by which he
meant that some savants seemed to have memory without reckoning. Dr. Down also
researched the fact that the savant’s talent is linked to ‘extraordinary memory’. For
example, one of his patients had memorized very long pieces from the book Rise
and Fall of the Roman Empire. In addition, Dr. Down found the link between savant
syndrome and autistic characteristics. To sum up, This syndrome is a long-studied
condition in which a person with a mental disability is capable of developing
extraordinary abilities.